with the refusal of an instrument
First iteration performed in June 2026 at Centrale Fies, Dro, Italy
Concept & Direction: Oliver Turvey
Choreography: Oliver Turvey, in conversation with Despina Sanida Crezia and Tara White
Sound Score: Oliver Turvey
Performers: Oliver Turvey, Despina Sanida Crezia, Tara White
Materials: salvaged metal and wood, fishing line, screws, zither pins.
“We build instruments to use them. They are a means to an end. What happens when an instrument is probably neither a means nor an end?” - Rana Hamadeh, in response to the performance
with the refusal of an instrument is a choreo-improvised work for three performers using homemade Aeolian harps that both invite and resist being played, drawing on ideas of use and mastery in the context of sound and music.
D is plucking the harp each time it is offered again. Again! Again!!
Now it must be offered to the air of those who are also here
O moves to the spaces in front of audience members and offers the harp to the air. His eyes are still fixed on the air - and on the object. Again!
A sporadic sounding of plucking and shuffling just happens.
This room is a mess but we’re trying - now that we’re centered again, it starts
excerpt from the score